I love, love, love Asian cooking. It's not all I do, but the flavors just make me happy. Luckily, they mostly make my husband happy too.
A few months ago I ran across a recipe in Cooks Illustrated for Stir Fried Noodles. I have adapted it a little to suit my taste, but it's REALLY good. Every time there are leftovers, they rarely make it past 24 hours.
Once I do the prep work...here and there throughout the day, it is a quick and easy dinner.
One of the ways they determined to make the chicken tender was to put it in a baking soda solution. It changes the pH. That change makes it cook quickly but stay tender....really tender.
This is what my finished yumminess looks like.
Ingredients
Chile vinegar - this is added to preference in each bowl after serving
1/3 cup rice vinegar (I use seasoned because I love the hint of sweetness against the spicy)
1 teaspoon sriracha
Mix together in a small container and let the flavors blend.
Prep for stir fry
2 lb chicken breast (sliced thinly)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup water
Mix together. After at least 15 minutes, drain, rinse, pat dry with paper towel
Sauce
1/2 cup oyster sauce
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 teaspoons molasses
2 teaspoons fish sauce
Mix together in a small bowl.
Other ingredients
3 eggs (lightly scrambled)
3 cloves of garlic minced (I use a garlic press)
1 lb broccoli cut into small florettes
1/4 cup oil (I use olive oil for pretty much everything)
8 ounces large rice noodles
The how-to
After all the prep work is done.
Heat 6 cups of water to boiling ( I do mine in the microwave for 4 minutes). Add rice noodles and let soak (needs to be for about 10 minutes (which is about how long the rest of the dish takes).
Heat a nonstick pan over high heat. Add 2 teaspoons of oil and garlic. Cook until garlic is golden...but not burnt.
Add 2 teaspoons of oil, 4 tablespoons of sauce, and drained/dried chicken. Toss in sauce/oil mixture and then DO NOT STIR. After 2 minutes, stir pan and flip pieces over.
After 2 more minutes, push chicken to one side of pan. Add 2 more teaspoons of oil on empty side.. Pour lightly beaten eggs into oil. Scramble eggs Just as they are getting firm, mix in with cooked chicken.
Empty pan into large bowl.
Add 2 more teaspoons of oil to the now-empty pan. Add 4 tablespoons of sauce and broccoli. Toss both together and cover pan for 4 minutes. Uncover pan and toss broccoli again. Cook for 2-3 more minutes.
While cooking, drain the rice noodles.
Add to large bowl with chicken/egg mixture.
Add 2 more teaspoons of oil and 4 tablespoons of sauce to again-empty pan. Add in 1/2 the rice noodles. Toss together and cook (without stirring) for 2-3 minutes. Add to large bowl. Repeat with remaining oil, sauce and noodles.
Toss all ingredients in large bowl together and serve. Top with vinegar mixture to taste.
Seriously my favorite meal.
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Showing posts with label Asian cooking. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Asian cooking. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Monday, February 25, 2013
Budget Asian Cooking
Every couple of months, I head to an Asian grocery store in South Philly....the kind where I am the tallest person in there....at my big height of 5'2"...and I stock up.
Here is what I always get.....
Here is what I always get.....
- big jar of sambal oelek
- big bottle of sriracha
- a couple large bottles of rice vinegar
- a large bottle of good soy
- a large jar oyster sauce
- a jar of hoisin sauce
- several packages of rice noodles
- a couple packages of cellophane noodles
- some fresh thin noodles...I toss them immediately in the freezer
- won-ton wrappers....also go right in the freezer
- egg roll wrappers....same with the freezer
- fresh ginger...when I get home, I peel it, and freeze it...then just grate it while still frozen
- fresh lemongrass...stick it in a glass of water and lasts for months...even starts to root
- bottle of fish sauce (yeah, it sounds gross and doesn't taste great when you try it plain....but in stuff....WOW)
I also pick up any spices that I'm out of....and anything I've been interested in trying or have seen in a recipe.
While all this stuff would normally cost me about $85 in a regular grocery store, taking the time to drive the 20 minutes there and back....this ends up costing me about $35 and the quality is MUCH better.
Crazy savings, right???? You have to be comfortable reading/guessing at labels in another language....and with sights and smells that aren't in your "norm." Once you get over that, it's so fun to find new things.
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